World Environment Day (WED) falls each year on 5 June. It is a day when people focus on the environment and it is celebrated in over 100 countries. World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

World Environment Day is created to promote environmental issues to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development. It promotes an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues and advocates partnership that will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future. World Environment Day embodies this approach, raising awareness, encouraging people to voice their thoughts and do their utmost to improve the environment.

Earth Day Network and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) joined forces in San Francisco this month to strengthen the impact of World Environment Day, the annual U.N. environmental conference that supports the United Nations’ goal of increasing environmental awareness around the world.

World Environment Day is hosted by a different city each year. This year the conference took place in San Francisco, California, from June 1-5, 2005, the first time the conference has been held in the United State. The event was hosted by Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco and focused on the environmental challenges facing urban populations.

As UNEP’s civil society partner, Earth Day Network played a critical role in the proceedings, by coordinating and sponsoring the participation of leading non-government organizations from around the world. With the support of UNEP, Earth Day Network brToday, the majority of the world's population lives in cities and uses the bulk of the world’s resources. Although cities face many of the world's most complex environmental challenges, they also have unparalleled opportunities to develop long-term solutions.

Recognizing this opportunity, Mayor Newsom invited other mayors from around the world to discuss urban environmental issues and to work together to negotiate and sign Urban Environmental Accords, which outline specific actions for sustainable urban living in the areas of water, energy, waste, urban design, transportation, urban nature, and environmental health.

Following World Environment Day, the Mayors and NGO leaders will continue to build upon the relationships begun in San Francisco and work together with municipal leaders to put those concepts and promises into action.

Over the next few years Earth Day Network will continue to work with the NGOs and the Mayors to implement an active and aggressive program for sustainable urban growth. Furthermore, Earth Day Network will promote the results of the conference to the extensive global Earth Day network -- to share approaches, points of view and methodologies, and spread the spirit of the urban accords to other cities.ought 15 NGO leaders to San Francisco where they were fully integrated into the proceedings, serving as experts in the issues that affect their regions and fields of expertise. The NGOs functioned as official delegates and came from Argentina, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine and Venezuela.

This was the first time that NGOs have participated fully in World Environment Day. Their participation was a huge success; their presence and participation provided a depth to the Accord discussions by offering a unique, grassroots perspective on how environmental issues affect the most vulnerable populations in their cities.